Cowboys smash Chooks, Smith injured

The boys from FNQ started the match on fire, scoring a clever try in the second minute of play engineered by Jason Smith for speedy winger Brenton Bowen, who fielded a chip kick in the corner.

In the tenth minute Bowen went over for his second of the night when he found himself on the end of a sweeping backline move that started with an offload by Carl Webb on his own 40m line. The ball went wide first through Thurston and then Smith, who found Graham on his outside. A nice dash downfield set the try up for Bowen, who backed up on the inside for his second.

Thurston decided to do it all himself in the 20th minute, jinking and dummying to cross for his first try of the night before the Roosters finally put up some resistance. A strong try to Lopini Paea and a much better performance in the back end of the first half saw them go close to scoring a few times more, but the Cowboys defence held.

Returning from the halftime break leading 18-6, North Queensland embarked on a four-try spree with Thurston grabbing another, O